The Longley-Marks Medal: January & February

This will be a special two-month review as we missed the votes for January. Voting will still be separate for each month though. A word of warning, one player turned February on its head and caused great issues for the Longley-Marks medal-voting panel.

Firstly a refresher on how the voting works; 40 votes are allocated monthly in honour of the number Sean Marks wore in the Association. I highly recommend you check out Niall’s piece on the legend that is Sean Marks before you read on. Niall has provided the readers with a chance to indulge further in the history that is the Longley-Marks medal. The highest amount of votes a player can receive in a given month is 13; this is to honour Luc Longley’s number during his Chi-town championship years.

As per usual we don’t need to go too in depth with the review on Adams’ January as we have already covered much of that over in the monthly review of Adams here. But in short, he lost to the Nets (bonus votes) and came close to his second double-double only to be stopped by a sprained ankle that wouldn’t even keep him out of playing the following night. He fouled out in three straight games including one in which he went head to head with fellow medal contender Bogut and his Warriors squad. Adams played over 10 minutes less than Bogut but was almost as productive, sure to impress the voters. He had seven rebounds against Patty Mills and the Spurs; this was one of his 10 games for the month in which he grabbed five or more rebbies. The young Kiwi would finish January by being a non-factor in the Thunder wins over the Heat and the Nets at Barclays (looks like you just lost all your votes Steven).

Banger Aron Baynes was able to play the most games in a month for his 2013-14 campaign, finishing with a total of 10. The figures were very similar to his December numbers but his PPG were slightly down, falling from 4.3 to 3.7 PPG. The one-time Kiwi was able to see an increase in minutes though, raising his MPG from 8.4 to 9.9 MPG. By far, Baynes best game for the month came in a 12-point loss to the Heat. Banger played over 15 minutes, going 3-of-3 from the field, grabbing six rebounds, two assists, one block and steal whilst adding six points to the Spurs total. That outing came on Australia Day so Banger knows how to pull on the patriot heartstrings of the voting panel.

The Bogeyman continued his solid 2013-14 season, seeing another monthly increase in his minutes, field goal percentage, assists, blocks and points whilst only having a small decrease in his rebound totals. Bogut had six double-doubles in January whilst also having a huge SEVEN-block game against Shabazz Muhammad’s T-Wolves. The Melbournian had two standout games against the Wizards and the Jazz. Bogut played 25 minutes against the Washington professional basketball team, going 7-of-9 from the field, grabbing 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals, four blocks and 15 points. His other performance of note had him playing over 36 minutes, shooting 8-of-11, collecting 17 rebounds, five assists, two steals, three blocks whilst adding 16 points to the Warriors collective total versus the Jazz.

Country boy Dellavedova saw all his numbers decrease in January but that is not so much to say his start to the new year was poor, rather a credit to his strong performances in December. The former St Mary’s Gael had four games in which he played over 20 minutes with all of them coming in his first four games for the month. Delly’s best game came in a loss to Brooklyn (Matthew knows the rules of the Longley-Marks). In his close to 29 minutes on court he went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc whilst adding two helpers, one swipe and finishing the game with 13 points.

The original former St Marys Gael Patty Mills improved further in January, increasing all his numbers. Mills finished the month shooting 49% from the field and the same number from beyond the three-point line. Throughout January Patty did not have a single game in which he didn’t play over 10 minutes. The Canberra local provided the Spurs with two standout performances which came in the same week. Patty delivered the first of those in a big win over the Greek Freak and his Bucks squad. Mills played close to 27 minutes, shooting 8-of-12, grabbing two rebounds, seven assists, three steals whilst finishing with 20 points. The other quality outing from Patty came in a blowout away win at Atlanta. The 25-year-old point guard played just over 23 minutes, shooting 6-from-8 beyond the arc, collecting two rebounds, two assists and two steals to finish with 18 points (all from three point land).

January Voting

How did the voting panel see January?

Andrew Bogut – 12 Votes

Patty Mills – 10 Votes

Steven Adams – 7 Votes

Aron Baynes – 6 Votes

Matthew Dellavedova – 5 –Votes

January Voting Review

The Bogeyman led the votes for a second month in a row. The voting panel found it difficult to split Mills and Bogut but ultimately the former number one draft had another well-rounded month. Bogey provided the Warriors with six dub-dubs along with swatting seven shots in the house that Shabazz built. The consistent twitter poster also provided his followers with this photo and caption, the voting panel loves some observational humour.

Patty Mills elevated his game in January, thanks to a few key injuries for the Spurs. The voting panel couldn’t ignore his increased production and as such nearly bumped Bogut from the top of the standings for January. Patty did take the votes in a crucial medal matchup against Adams and the Thunder in late January. He was the Longley-Marks medal player of the night with his two assists and nine points. He also provided the below photo and caption, solidifying his position at number two for the month.

Adams’ start to 2014 was not that dissimilar to his finish to 2013 in that he provided the Thunder with similar production. I think the voting panel is expecting more of Adams due to the fast start to his career, whether this is fair or not is a topic for another discussion but thus may explain his mid-placing in the voting. Adams was however helped in the January voting by his performance in a crucial Longley-Marks medal game. The rookie was able to impress the panel enough in his 10 minutes of action against Andrew Bogut and the Warriors during their mid January matchup. Although he fouled out he was still able to produce a similar stat line to his medal rival in half the court time. Win for Adams here.

Banger Baynes’ seven votes and fourth place finish in the January votes occurred due to four factors;

His games played and court time increased. Doesn’t matter if it was due to injuries, anytime a player can increase his presence on the defending western conference champs squad it will receive votes.

Anytime your photo includes Milo, you will be getting votes from this panel.

Delly dropped off from his solid performance throughout December and even though he went 4-of-4 from three-point land in a loss to Brooklyn, it still wasn’t enough to see him move from the bottom of the January votes.

The Big Funaki had his worst month in the association to date during February, failing to break double digit points or rebounds in any games whilst only playing 20+ minutes three times, with two of them coming as a result of Kendrick Lamar Perkins’ injury. The former Pitt Panthers’ two best games both came against Memphis. During both outings he played over 20 minutes and grabbed five rebounds. In the first matchup he had four blocks and three points whilst in the return bout he had two blocks and seven points.

27-year-old Baynes managed to play double digit minutes in three of his six games for the Spurs in February. The limited court time made it difficult for Baynes to impress the voters. His standout performance for the month came in a big loss to the overachieving Suns in which he grabbed six rebounds and four points.

The Warriors were provided with 15 rebounds from the Bogeyman to begin the month and then they were without their starting centre until well after the All-Star break. Bogut injured his shoulder in his 17 rebound and 16-point performance against the Jazz but was unsure when. Coach Mark Jackson was unsure as well and it sparked a bit of friction between the pair. MRI’s cleared Bogut of any damage but the former number one draft pick said he had bone bruising and swelling in the shoulder. The product of the Utah Utes played the final three games of the month, playing over 10 minutes in all three but failed to cause too much worry at the scorer’s table.

Undrafted rookie Dellavedova managed to play over 10 minutes in 12 games during February, four of them being over 20 minutes. Although his total minutes were slightly decreased from January, his points, rebounds and assist average all increased. Delly’s two best games came in losses to the Lakers and Drake’s Raptors outfit. Whilst the Cavs would lose by 11 to the purple and gold, the country Victoria guard was able to play 23 minutes, collect four boards, provide five helpers and finish with eight points. Dellavedova played 28 minutes in the loss to the Raptors, finishing with three rebounds, two assists and 10 points.

Then there was Patrick Sammy Mills. What Mills did in February had the voting panel looking to the Longley-Marks medal rulebook. Could the voting panel simply give Mills every one of the 40 votes available? Obviously with the medal rules stating the highest amount any player could get was 13 to honour the number Lucien Longley wore, they were unable to do that.

Or could they?

It appears in the deep dark shadows of the rule book, hidden as a footnote there is a bi-rule that’s states:

“If a player is deemed worthy, an increase to 31 maximum votes is available but only once in the history of the medal is this rule allowed to be used”

It turns out the number 31 is to honour a once off conversation Luc Longley had about his number to current Warriors coach Mark Jackson. In 2001, when Longley was the backup centre for the New York Knicks, Jackson was traded to the Garden. Jackson, who also wore the number 13 rang Longley to ask permission to wear the number. As Longley had wore the number 13 his entire college and professional career to honour his father he was unwilling to forgo the number. So Jackson, who admitted Longley had hit a soft spot as he had lost his own father two years prior went with the number 31.

(Maybe I spent an hour hoping to find that Longley had worn a number higher than 13 in his career, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I had to clutch at straws and use the Jackson story to give Mills more votes, maybe I didn’t)

So, is the voting panel going to use the one time exemption? You bet!

Patty Mills had a great February, a true breakout month for the 25 year old. He played over double-digit minutes in EVERY one of his 12 games. Of those 12 games, he only played under 20 minutes in TWO of them. Mills had four games in which he finished with over 20 points including a career high 32 points away in Charlotte. On that night he also had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals for it to be clearly his game of the month. Patty wasn’t done there though, he also added these three performances against the Washington professional basketball club, the Clipper variety of Los Angeles and Portland.

@ Washington – 20:23, 4/9 3FG, 6r, 4a, 23pts.

@ LAC – 27:15, 9/15 FG, 5r, 5a, 25pts.

@ Portland – 29:00, 13/26 FG, 3r, 3a, 2stl, 29pts.

Mills was not afraid to shoot on the Spurs rodeo road trip, in fact Mills is never afraid to shoot. The voting panel loves his shoot first, think about it later mentality.

February Voting

Patty Mills – 31 Votes*

Matthew Dellavedova – 8 Votes

Aron Baynes – 7 Votes

Steven Adams – 7 Votes

Andrew Bogut – 4 Votes

*Longley-Jackson rule enforced

I think we have already touched on why we see Patrick Sammy at the top of the February votes and unless something dramatic happens he is uncatchable. At last check Mills sits at $1.08 with betting agencies to take home the prestigious award.

Dellavedova benefited from weak performances from all the other medal candidates. He still improved upon his January numbers in less minutes but his standing in the February voting reflects the struggles of his medal rivals rather than an outstanding display from Delly.

This was Banger Banyes highest standing in any month so far for the 2013-14 Longley-Marks medal. As with Delly he was aided in another small decrease in output by Adams and Bogut’s injury.

Adams got lucky for February, it could have been a distaster for his overall campaign but he managed to salvage some votes through earning a place in the BBVA rising stars game on All-Star weekend and via this photo;

As with Milo, anytime Nutella features in your photo, you get votes. I also don’t want to encourage the Longley-Marks medal candidates to begin searching for the best photo opportunity with an NBA legend but Adams did influence the voting panel with this photo;

Bogut gave up the lead in the Longley-Marks medal through missing seven games in February. Although one of those missed games was a Warriors win over the Nets (Bogut knows which games to miss to enhance his medal chances) I don’t think he could have predicted what Mills was going to do in the shortest month for the year. The Bogeyman is now in a struggle just to retain the second spot on the standings and with Adams now starting for the Thunder we are going to have a mad March in the chase for the Longle-Marks Medal.

Leaderboard after February voting.

Patty Mills – 58 Votes

Andrew Bogut – 35 Votes

Steven Adams – 32 Votes

Matthew Dellavedova – 27 votes

Aron Baynes – 25 Votes

You can have your say on the voting in the comments below, informing me of what the panel may have missed via twitter @toddjonessc or toddjonessc@live.com.au . The panel loves your feedback, whether they take it on board is another story!

Todd is an unrestricted free agent point guard in the local division two Tuesday night social league. Coming off an ACL injury suffered on the eve of last years playoffs he is currently on a Derrick Rose style #thereturn journey. The majority of the his 2012-13 season was spent trying to grow a Iman Shumpert flat top. Whilst rehabbing he is driving the Steven Adams hype train. Choo Choo!
@toddjonessc